Most Innovative Window
Small/Medium Manufacturer (sales less than $100 million)
Armor Max Plus Impact Line
Gorell Windows & Doors, Indiana, Penn.

Armor Max Plus hurricane impact windows effectively protect homes from hurricanes and other forms of violent weather while also improving energy efficiency and making homes more beautiful. Unlike some impact windows that manufacturers adapt from existing designs, the line features a proprietary formula, high-strength vinyl and a design that avoids the need for bulky, unattractive “pieced on” hardware.
The windows feature a contemporary design aimed to add curb appeal. A variety of options, including colors and grid styles, can further enhance the look. Available in double-hung, sliding and picture window models, the line incorporates thick, multi-chambered frames, a new heavy-duty, constant force balance system with stainless steel reinforced attachment points and double locks. Twelve-point fusion welding provides superior strength, in addition to making the frames and sash perfectly square. The windows easily passed ASTM large missile impact level “D” tests to 140 miles per hour, which allows them to meet the stringent requirements of hurricane-approved protection products. In addition, they carry a rating of DP-50 or greater in accordance with the AAMA 101 standard for air, water and structural wind load testing.
A specially designed glass system incorporates three panes of glass, two of which sandwich a protective interlayer of polyvinyl butyral for strength and durability. An advanced SolarControl Plus low-E coating and argon gas fill help deliver cost-saving energy efficiency year round. The glass package enables windows to qualify for the Energy Star label in all four climate regions, provide protection against intrusion and significantly reduce ambient noise, and block 99+ percent of damaging UV rays.
Finally, Gorell points out that, as with its other products, it provides consistent two-week delivery on this line, even when high demand for impact windows has lengthened lead times for dealers to receive products from many other manufacturers

Most Innovative Door Component
SmartScan Residential Biometric Entry System
Kwikset, a Black & Decker Co., Lake Forest, Calif.

The SmartScan residential biometric entry system takes personal access control and security to a new level for homeowners, eliminating the need for a key or key code. The deadbolt is activated by simply swiping a finger across its indicator.
The system is specifically designed as a stylish alternative to the bulky, undistinguished industrial biometric security systems used in commercial applications. It delivers a sleek, attractive designer look and feel, with its biometric fingerprint reader stealthily integrated into the overall design. The hardware is available in a variety of finishes that enhances any decor in any home.
The deadbolt door lock system can be applied to internal and external doors in residential applications. Programmable for up to 50+ user fingerprints, it reads sub-dermal fingerprint patterns located beneath the outer surface layer of the skin, making it unaffected by dirty or worn fingertips. It also has a “lock out feature” that allows homeowners three levels of access options. Homeowners can set the lock for continual access by family members, temporary access for house sitters or contractors, or time restricted access for babysitters or housekeepers.
“Consumer acceptance of biometric technology is accelerating,” says Eric Lundquist, director of brand marketing for Kwikset. “It is currently available on portable hard drives and IBM ThinkPad computers, as well as in grocery store checkouts, gas stations and automobiles. Biometrics is an emerging technology that can give consumers an increased level of home protection and peace of mind.”

Most Innovative Window Component
Smart Window System
Electronic Window Systems, Marshfield, Mass.

The Smart Window system is an electronic operator for double-hung windows that is hidden in the balance system. Created by Electronic Window Systems, it can be easily installed in both new and existing windows, and works with the press of a button located discretely under the sill or by remote control.
The components are hidden in a specially designed window apron that opens easily for maintenance and repair. Each window unit has its own motor and circuit board, or the operators can be connected to a central communications center for easy access to all windows from one spot. Options include wall mounted touch screen, remote control or connectivity via Web-based home automation systems.
Every window has installed a current sensitivity mechanism and additional safety slip clutch that immediately stop the window upon sensing obstruction—keeping kids and pets safe. Users can adjust the sensitivity of the stop mechanism to fit individual needs. If power is lost in a home, or in case of emergency, users can still open the windows manually.
The electronic hardware makes it especially convenient for the elderly or disabled to open and close a window.

Most Innovative Glazing Technology
Zo-e-shield Energy Glass
Weather Shield Windows & Doors, Medford, Wis.

Combining unique components and the latest glass coatings, Zo-e-shield state-of-the-art insulating glass systems are custom engineered to reduce a home’s energy usage while protecting and enhancing the living environment. According to Weather Shield Windows & Doors, its combination of new technologies delivers the lowest center-of-glass U-values and solar heat gain coefficients; protects a home’s interior from harmful UV rays while allowing more visible light into the home; provides exterior surfaces that are easy to clean, repel dirt and have fewer water spots; and minimizes condensation. Additionally, Zo-e-shield offers options that can reduce sound transmission.
The insulating glass units are comprised of Weather Shield’s exclusive Real warm edge spacer systems, EasyCare coating, multiple layers of low-E coating and inert gas-filled airspaces. Real warm edge spacers, made from flexible, low-conductive, durable materials, create an effective insulating barrier against heat flow, sound and condensation. EasyCare is an invisible, permanent coating that resists dirt and causes water to “sheet off” rather than “cling” to the glass. With it, water spots are reduced and glass cleaning is simplified.
Because the manufacturer assembles its own IG units, it can create new glazing combinations that result in optimized performance. Three performance levels—Zo-e-shield 5, Zo-e-shield 6 and Zo-e-shield 7—yield lower U-values and solar heat gain coefficients and provide protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays that cause fading of homes’ interiors. A home’s draperies, furniture, floors and artwork are protected from 95 percent to 99.9 percent of harmful UV-A and UV-B radiation. Providing up to 65 percent visible light transmittance without compromising energy efficiency, Zo-e-shield performance levels can be interchanged throughout the home to accommodate home placement in relationship to the sun, use and size of windows in the overall design. Options can also address security and sound considerations.

Most Innovative Machine
Frame/Sash Fabrication
Compact Welding and Cleaning Line for Sash
Stürtz Machinery Inc., Solon, Ohio

The Stürtz sash line offers vinyl window manufacturers the highest productivity available in an automated welding and cleaning system, according to the company. Per-shift capacity is up to 900 welded and cleaned sash with a single operator. Several unique features allow for this level of production.
The Stürtz Model SMI-HSM-20/19CDS welder is ergonomically designed, with ease-of-loading being one of the major design criteria. Two of these machines are set up as mirror images of each other and configured to be loaded by a single operator with minimal movement. High-speed belts unload the welders. The belt unloads are integral to each welder, allowing them to be positioned automatically when the welding heads adjust for the size of sash. The belts unload each tier of the double-stack welder independently and then feed them onto a twin tier buffer and transport station. The twin tier buffer and transport separates the two sash and sequences them to be fed into the automated four-head cleaner. Once the sash are fed onto the cleaner infeed buffer, the transport unit can travel to the second welder and duplicate the process. This provides a seamless flow of welded sash from the two welders to the single cleaner.
The fully programmable Stürtz Model SMI-CNC-H-4K-20/20 corner cleaner is designed specifically to process sash. This allows for a compact design minimizing tool travel and eliminating a significant portion of the cycle time required by larger frame/sash cleaners. All four corners of sash as small as 12 inches by 12 inches can be cleaned simultaneously. Maximum sash size is 72 inches by 72 inches. Cycle time to clean a complete sash is approximately 25 seconds. The cleaner also incorporates fabrication capability for tilt latch routing and pivot bar insertion drilling and can be customized for other fabrication steps such as vent latch routing and drilling for locks and keepers.
Finally, the line features upgraded software that provides access to maintenance information right at the machine. The latest control system also allows the machine to be assigned an IP address, which allows the Stürtz technical service group to access the machine over an Internet connection to perform true real time diagnostics and trouble shooting.
The close coupling of the welders, minimum length buffer and transport units designed specifically for the job, and the compact nature of the welders and cleaners facilitate a high level of productivity in a total space of less than 1,200 square feet. The small footprint allows the line to be incorporated into existing plants with minimal plant floor reconfiguration.

Most Innovative Machine
IG Production/Glazing
Vertical Automated Glazier
Sash Systems LLC, Westport, Conn.

The new automated glazier renders obsolete the capabilities of the first generation of equipment designed to produce windows using Sashlite integrated sash technology. Shifting from a horizontal to a vertical production layout, the new line is capable of producing 600 to 1,500 units per shift with only three to five workers. It also has a footprint 32 percent smaller than the first generation line, which according to Sash Systems already had the smallest footprint in the industry for production of IG.
Innovative features include a new state-of-the-art, “bi-headed” servo motion control system. One independent head with a rotating nozzle dispenses the desiccant matrix around the sash with pinpoint accuracy—a critical element to the Sashlite technology. The other applies the sealant. The unique servo motion control system automatically applies a consistent amount of material at speeds up to 30 inches per second. No operator input is required, as it is mechanically driven and electronically controlled.
The equipment line also allows for cell-based or distributive manufacturing systems, and can be integrated into the production process with minimal downtime and training. According to the supplier, the new design and enhanced features make glazier the most efficient IG line ever produced, delivering the highest performing windows at the highest output rate and lowest cost structure in the industry.

Unique Innovation  
NxWare LeanGlass Look-Ahead
Optimization Software
GED Integrated Solutions, Twinsburg, Ohio

Several unique capabilities are incorporated into NxWare LeanGlass Look-Ahead optimization software to automatically optimize glass usage at the cutting table in real-time and get the very best yield based on current production requirements. Manufacturers no longer have to choose between glass yield and throughput.
With Look-Ahead technology, the optimizer automatically uses lites from subsequent batches, as well as “on-the-fly” functions, to increase yield. The operator can insert a rush batch at the controller or add additional schedules to the optimization block, without stopping the cutting table in either instance.
Remake lites selected by operators at the breakout table are optimized automatically. Finally, the system allows an operator to manually enter individual lites at the controller, without stopping the cutting table. The software automatically optimizes the lites on the next sheet, end of current batch or next batch, per operator preference.
The software enables managers to view real-time cutting table production data at their desks, with a module that reports actual cutting table yield, sheet usage and savings, production lites cut, remake lites cut, filler lites cut and MDI (manually input) lites cut. Reports can be viewed or printed across the customer’s computer network.
GED reports that the software saves up to $60,000 per year per cutting table in glass costs, while simultaneously increasing throughput up to 10 percent. It is currently running production on more than 50 cutting tables.

Most Innovative Marketing Program
Large Manufacturer (sales more than $100 million)
Tuscany Dealer Program
Milgard Windows & Doors, Tacoma, Wash.

Milgard’s Tuscany Series is a new vinyl window designed specifically for the remodeling and replacement market. Following the line’s rollout last year, the manufacturer set out to creatively communicate to trade customers the key features of the new product series in a way that is memorable and would generate excitement for the launch. The target audience was Milgard dealers’ partners as well as prospective trade customers.
With Milgard’s new SmartTouch lock being a key feature of the new windows, the theme chosen for the program was “Get Smart.” With a play on the 1970s “Get Smart” TV show featuring secret agent Maxwell Smart, the program materials were packaged in a silver attaché case labeled “CLASSIFIED:  INNOVATIVE PRODUCT INSIDE.”
Inside, Milgard’s message was conveyed in storyboard fashion. Product sell sheets, a logo tape measure with recorded “secret” message, a logo pen and notepad, and showroom counter card rounded out the starter kit. Kits were hand-delivered to key customers in sales presentations, as well as mailed to perspective customers announcing the launch, then followed up with phone calls and in-person visits.
The rollout marketing program communicated how Tuscany Series windows were developed based on customer feedback, incorporating several innovations packaged in an architecturally pleasing design. Of course, the proprietary SmartTouch locking system, offering a slim appearance and one-touch operation, was highlighted.
The campaign also pointed to the line’s consumer-friendly features, such as a standard glass breakage warranty which includes tempered glass, optional simulated divided lite grids and a green energy saving package, all designed to appeal to the replacement window buyer.

Most Innovative Marketing Program
Small/Medium Manufacturer (sales less than $100 million)
Marketing Launch
Avonni Windows & Doors, Wilkesboro, N.C.

Introduced by A&H Windows as a separate, upscale product line, Avonni Windows & Doors provide the unique ability in the industry to match colors and styles for every opening of a home. Builders can use one company to fulfill window, patio door and entry door specifications. To communicate the Avonni message, the company developed a full marketing program, starting with the creation of the product name and logo design.
The Avonni marketing program encompassed numerous elements essential for the product launch to communicate to customers and prospects—custom builders and architects, primarily. In addition to a distinctive new name and logo, a key element was a separate Web site, that features an interactive window and door builder, illustrating different color and trim options available against a choice of home exterior styles, as well as an architect library of downloadable CAD-ready files. The Avonni launch included a new trade show kiosk and booth design, targeted advertising campaign and public relations. The resulting program provided focus and recognition of a new brand and key awareness for the Avonni product line from a reputable and trusted company, A&H Windows.

Most Innovative Marketing Program
Supplier
Video Series
Cardinal Glass Industries, Eden Prairie, Minn.

Designed to impart critical technical and manufacturing information in a consistent manner, a series of videos intended for prospective Cardinal Glass customers enables the Cardinal sales staff to focus on the individualized needs of each customer.
The “Plant Tours” video highlights each of the five types of Cardinal operations—float glass manufacturing, tempering, laminating, coating and insulating glass production. Each tour offers a fast-paced look at how these manufacturing facilities operate. Chapter marks allow the sales staff to show a particular facility easily with the click of a mouse.
Preserve is an innovative protective film demonstrated in a video of the same name. The production showcases how the film benefits both the window maker and the builder, resulting in fewer window returns.
Neat is a new coating applied by Cardinal and featured in another video. It shows how the new technology makes glass easier to clean and allows rain to wash away common carbon-based elements. Animation helps the viewer visualize the process, accomplished by coating the glass with titanium dioxide.
The series also includes a laminated glass video, which focuses on how the supplier is filling the increasing need for hurricane-resistant glass.
The final video focuses on Cardinal’s Intelligent Quality Assurance Program, a series of inspection processes, including the supplier’s own unique systems. The video aims to assure customers that Cardinal’s products will always meet or exceed expectations.

Best Product Literature
Large Manufacturer (sales more than $100 million)
Product Literature Collection
Loewen, Steinbach, Manitoba

For luxury homeowners—and the architects, designers and builders that create their dreams—Loewen sees itself as the brand that delivers an unrivaled combination of experience, artisanship and environmental sensibility in an extensive line of wood windows and doors. To reflecting this brand image, its collection of product literature seeks to go well beyond providing technical specifications. Instead, the printed materials seek to fire the imagination with breathtaking architectural photography featuring the Loewen line.
The collection targets two primary audiences. The first is affluent custom homeowners seeking fenestration products that offer quality, status and distinction in the architecture of their luxury homes. These homeowners are generally couples between the ages of 35 and 60 with more than one residential property. The female consumer is concerned primarily with design aesthetics and the emotions evoked by the products, while the male is focused on quality construction, precision craftsmanship and performance. These consumers often consult an architect in the creation of their multi million-dollar dream homes.
The second audience is specifiers—architects, designers and customer builders who specify fenestration products to the affluent homeowners described above. These keen industry professionals are concerned with technical data and design integrity while often finding a balance between traditional and contemporary styles. Increasingly, professionals are also concerned with green products and are interested in learning about product details or manufacturing processes that benefit the environment and promote energy efficiency.
            There is a distinct consistency between each piece of collateral in the Loewen product literature collection. Clean contemporary style emotes from the pages and demonstrates the seamless integration of traditional and contemporary styles. The quality and resolution of the photography is another unique element, with vivid images of the artisan construction details and the endless possibilities that demonstrate how Loewen product can enhance any project. Finally, the text of all the pieces is unique in that it combines technical descriptions with evocative descriptions to appeal to all members of the target audiences.

Best Product Literature
Small/Medium Manufacturer (sales less than $100 million)
Heritage Series Brochure
Vytex Windows, Laurel, Md.

Vytex Windows’ Heritage Series brochure is an all-encompassing journey through their vinyl window operation. With the theme, “Your Vision. Our Expertise,” the reader is guided through the various Heritage Series products, gaining not only knowledge about the line, but, through beautiful pictures, an idea of how their home will look with new Vytex windows.
The brochure features an overlay on the cover, providing the viewer a “window into the company.” Once the flap is opened, before opening the brochure itself, customers are greeted with a “Why Choose Vytex?” message.
Each turn of the page provides information about the various window styles, bow and bay configurations, specifications, and energy saving glazing options. Also featured are the 25 exterior color options, various grid options, factory photos, a “features and options” chart and warranty information.

Best Product Literature  
Supplier
Duralite Brochure
Truseal Technologies, Solon, Ohio

Combining compelling photography, simple messaging and a unique pop-up format, Truseal Technologies developed an effective 3 3⁄4-inch by 8-inch brochure highlighting the capabilities of its new Duralite edge-seal system. It is used as a sales tool, in dealers’ point-of-purchase displays and as a direct mail piece.
The piece was designed to describe the thermal efficiency benefits of the Duralite spacer in simple and relevant terms to an end consumer that may not be very well versed on the spacer’s role in IG windows.
To convey effectively the thermal performance of Duralite, Truseal and its integrated marketing communications firm, Marcus Thomas, decided that two dimensions weren’t enough. A third dimension, in the form of a piece of clear vinyl, was inserted into the brochure. When the brochure is opened, the vinyl pops up, creating the illusion of an insulating glass widow, with a smiling, snow-covered boy looking in from the outside.
An image of the Duralite spacer rests between the outer pane, represented on the brochure itself by the boy pressing his head and hands against it, and the inner pane, which is the piece of vinyl. The performance highlights are easily read between the panes.

Best Industry Web Site
Large Manufacturer
www.jeld-wen.com
Jeld-Wen, Klamath Falls, Ore.

Originally launched in 2003, www.jeld-wen.com is the company’s home on the Web. Designed to provide complete product information and design ideas for the company’s diverse, worldwide audience, the site also helps highlight the company’s brand promise of “Reliability for Real Life.” That message is conveyed by focusing on product innovations and community-based initiatives, and through contests and tie-ins with the manufacturer’s advertising.
One unique element is the use of project-based micro sites. When a marketing campaign or product innovation warrants special attention online, the site is flexible enough to accommodate “micro sites,” or smaller, related Web sites that link from the manufacturer’s home page. Several examples of successful micro sites include:
„ The Lighthouse Restoration Initiative, www.jeld-wen.com/lighthouse
„ Student Door Design Contest, www.jeld-wen.com/studentdesign
„ The Holiday Door Décor selector, www.jeld-wen.com/holiday
„ This summer, Jeld-Wen also added a micro site designed specifically for architects. It offers comprehensive wood window templates that can be downloaded in AutoCAD formats, including DXF, DWG, PDF and Revit.
In addition to seasonal micro sites, the site features the most robust online newsroom in the industry. It allows members of the media, who do almost all of their research online, to “shop” for news releases, photos and digital assets and request items of specific interest to them. Interviews also can be requested through the online newsroom.
The company’s Web architecture is repeated somewhat for the company’s international sites, password-protected customer sites and a private,
 Intranet portal site.
The public site receives approximately 180,000 unique visitors per month.

Best Industry Web Site
Small/Medium Manufacturer
www.soft-lite.com
Soft-Lite Windows, Streetsboro, Ohio

The Internet has forever changed the way people buy windows. Marketing research indicates that shopping for windows can take six months or more, and most of the shoppers review no fewer than four potential sources. People do not intend to buy windows online, but it is clear that they often educate themselves about this big-ticket home improvement purchase that few know much about beforehand. The increasingly technical nature of the questions Soft-Lite receives confirmed for the company that it needed a new, interactive Web site to educate homeowners in a truthful and forthright manner.
The company contracted the services of Ligget-Stashower, a leading Web design firm, to help create a consumer-friendly Web site with three unique elements.
First, the company created an education section, which includes a product gallery and a buyer’s checklist, to guide a potential window buyer through the learning process as he or she shops for windows. This section contains specific technical information arranged in a way well suited to help differentiate product types and the different performance levels common in the industry.
Second, the company’s dealer locator features a section “About Soft-Lite” and another “Contact Us” section that makes it easy for direct contact between the company’s staff and any inquirer. The direct factory interaction with homeowners and other inquirers result in the generation of leads, which are sent directly to the dealers. Soft-Lite’s dealers are encouraged to upload their photo galleries onto the company’s site so shoppers can view their best work.
Third, the company wanted the site to be interactive and attractive. With scripting flash design and subtle animations in response to clicks, a browser feels connected to the site as they learn. Technical information that includes product features, options, internal laminates and exterior colors is presented in an easy-to-read interactive format.

Best Industry Web Site
Supplier
www.sashlite.com
Sashlite LLC, Westport, Conn.

The Sashlite Web site is designed to be as high-tech and cutting edge as the technology it represents. Featuring the company’s blue branding throughout and a sleek, futuristic look and feel, the site is notable for its “live” feel. When users click tabs to navigate around the site, they are greeted with a human voice and moving video, rather than a stagnant page.
Informational videos launch automatically to give the user an overview of the innovative Sashlite technology in various categories. The graphics in the videos match the look of the site and captions accompany the speaker so users can read the presentation if they prefer.
For the areas that don’t feature videos, most of the pertinent information in each section is contained to one screen in length, minimizing the amount of time visitors spend scrolling around to find informat